The Flaw in the Plan
by Nightmare's Court
Summary: What REALLY happened after Voldemort died? Harry did not celebrate. Harry did not feel relief. Harry did not move on… Harry only felt pain. WARNING! LOTS OF CHARACTER DEATH!
1. The Lion and the Serpent

**The Flaw in the Plan**

Pain. Searing _pain_ seemed to pulse from every movement of my body, until even breathing brought agony.

I knew logically that this was a good thing. That Voldemort was evil and it was a blessing to be rid of him.

So why did I feel so cursed?

I felt so empty. I felt like someone had just ripped something essential from me. A limb, or a memory… something that was once a part of me was now just…gone.

_Stolen_.

I felt dizzy and breathless as I fell to the ground, huddled on the floor in a pathetic heap, unable to move. Distantly I heard Ginny screaming my name.

Ginny…

She was safe now; everyone was safe now that Voldemort was dead. Even I was safe…

So _empty_…

I had never felt this pain before, this, subtle _ache_ in my very core. Oh how I just wanted it to end!

**PLEASE LET IT END!**

Her touch burned my skin, my head felt like it was splitting open and spilling my blood onto the floor. I couldn't even hear my screams over the pounding in my ears.

Everything was a blur of color; I couldn't see anyone or anything even as I felt hands on me. They shook me, prodded me, _dirtied_ me.

**DON'T TOUCH ME!**

It hurt, my very magic practically _screeched_ as it tore my skin, enraged and desperate to make them let go of me.

Why did it hurt so much? Why wouldn't they stop touching me, they were HURTING ME!

"STOP **TOUCHING** **ME**!"

My voice echoed in the great hall, and all of their filthy hands left me almost immediately. I felt like sobbing in relief as the pressure in my chest lessened somewhat, but it continued to throb with every beat of my heart as I tried to breathe.

"Harry…"

Why was I so empty… why did it hurt so _much_?

"Harry, what's wrong with you?"

That's not right… the voice should've been smooth as ice, hissing and familiar and confident- this voice was wrong. It was hoarse and hurt my ears; it was also high and sweet, like an over sugared candy you just couldn't wait to spit out.

"It's over, we won Harry!"

The voice seemed to be in a pain too… we won? Won what?

…

The war.

"Please, snap out of it Harry! He's dead! We're safe now -!"

He's dead.

Voldemort couldn't hurt anybody else.

He's dead.

His horcruxs were destroyed.

He's dead…

Even the one in me was gone.

I was no longer a horcrux… I was just an empty shell… an _empty __**shell**_…

My heart began to pound as my eyes shot open.

His soul was gone. I no longer, consciously or unconsciously, feel him inside me. He was cleansed from me; I no longer had any ties to him.

_I was so empty_…

I was nothing.

I stumbled to my feet, deaf to everyone as I staggered across the hall, my eyes fixated on a body laying just in front of me.

Come back…

I fell to the floor by his side as I put my shaking hands on either side of his face. "Wake up…"

He needed to come back inside me; I needed him back inside of me where he belonged.

"It's time to wake up now…"

His face remained surprisingly passive, even beautiful under the glow of the candles in the great hall. His face was the purest white and soft as silk under my fingers.

"Harry…"

His lips refused to move, to form that arrogant smirk I now craved. He needed to stop pretending to be asleep; he needed to wake up now…

"Harry V-Voldemort's dead, mate. Why are you acting so-?"

"He's not dead, he just needs to wake up…" I muttered to the vaguely familiar voice, swaying slightly as I tried to continue breathing.

"Come on, you can do it…" Shaking Voldemort slightly, I tried to smile encouragingly down at him, "It's okay, I'm here… I just need you to wake up now…"

"He's gone mad Hermione,"

"Shush Ronald! He's probably in a state of disbelief; he just needs time to adjust is all,"

Why wasn't he waking up? Voldemort needed to wake up, he needed to open those wonderful ruby eyes, he needed to-

Why were they touching me again?

They weren't just touching me; they were pulling me away from him, from his gloriously soothing _soul-_

"Let me go!" I thrashed under their restrictive hold, screaming my heart out as I tried to return to his side…

"Harry, you need to snap out of this right now!"

"**NOOOOO**!"

I felt them struggle to hold me as I kicked, bit, and snarled; fighting tooth and nail to return to his side where he needed me…

"Is he possessed or something! What the hell is wrong with him Herm-"

I heard a gasp as I kicked one of my captors, feeling triumph as both pairs of hands let me go.

I scrambled back to his side, taking his cold hands in my own and bringing them up to my chest. The wound in my soul cried out for relief as it searched for its companion, twisting in agony under my skin when it felt nothing.

"No…"

I tightened my hold on his hands as tears of anguish filled my unseeing eyes.

"You need to make it stop; you need to make the pain go away…"

…

"I'm you horcrux, your safety."

…

"I feel so empty; I need you to fill me again,"

Silence.

It resonated across the great hall until all you could hear was your own heartbeat. I could feel the eyes of hundreds if not millions of people on me, but I felt uncaring to them. They couldn't help me, they couldn't sooth my ache, they couldn't fill me and I so needed to be _filled again_…

"I'm your horcrux, I wasn't meant to be so _empty_…."

I cried out in agony as my body trembled, finally falling to the floor because I couldn't hold myself up any longer.

I settled myself into his side, bringing his arms around me as I buried my head on his chest and sobbed.

"… Hermione-"

"I don't know Ron... I just don't know..."

Come back inside me, don't leave me like this! I need you inside me; I can't live with this pain!

That was when reality crashed down on me.

I could not hear his heartbeat.

His soul was gone.

And that was when I could no longer breathe.

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and this is simply how I thought Harry Potter should have ended._

_Sorry for those who've read **Death at a Funeral** and want an update: in all honestly I don't know if I ever will continue it, because despite all the ideas I have, I kind of like it where it ends... maybe one day I'll publish a second story, a sequel._

_Anyways, this is just a little one-shot about how I felt Harry would feel once all the adrinaline wore off and he realized what he had done; this title is actually the title of the last chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, since this is basically just an AU of that chapter._

_This will actually REMAIN a one-shot, and will probably never be read since there are so many longer stories about Harry and Voldemort out there. _

_For those of you reading this, thank you! I hope you enjoyed it! :)_

_Please press that button on the bottom of the screen and tell me what you think,_

_PLEASE! *puppy face*_


	2. The Dementor's Kiss

**The Dementor's Kiss**

Is this what drove him crazy?

This never ending emptiness that will NEVER be filled again?

Or was it the knowledge that we will feel this ever present ache for every _second_, of every **_day,_** for the **_rest of our lives_**?

I want to die.

I want to crumble to the floor and stop breathing; only now I won't even have the comfort of dying in his arms.

He was even further away from me now, in this cold white room under the watchful eyes of some paid nurse.

His ashes were long gone, spit and torn up by an unmerciful wind that wouldn't let even his remains stay in one whole piece.

He didn't have a funeral.

I never got to say good-bye.

Maybe he and I just simply weren't meant to be whole.

I breathe in and out slowly, deliberately.

The nurses' eyes are always fixed on my chest, constantly making sure I continue to breathe on my own, when we both know I'm just waiting for a moment to stop.

It hurts. It hurts so _much_; it's all I can do to continue to breathe this toxic air.

Why won't they let me die? They can see how miserable I am, unmoving in this corner with glazed eyes and a rattling breath. It hurts so much to breathe.

That's why I'm here. That's why my so-called 'friends' stuffed me away in this hospital, so that I can continue to breathe in and OUT…

I stop breathing for a moment.

The nurse fixes her wand on me.

I force myself to continue to breathe.

Every time I stop breathing, every time I try to die; they are there like sadistic whores, using spells to force my lungs to work. The only reason I keep breathing is because while it hurts to breathe, their magic on my skin literally _burns_.

Maybe I am going insane.

The nurses tell me it's been a year and that the world wants me back.

I want to tell them to go fuck themselves, but I can barely put up the energy to breathe, let alone talk.

They visit me sometimes, my once friends. They shuffle into the room awkwardly, staring at me with what I know to be horror.

I must look like death, which I guess is appropriate considering the circumstances.

The fact that my heart is tiredly pumping, or that my lungs swell with oxygen, fools no one. Or at least, it doesn't fool me.

I am soulless. My soul, the soul I should've sheltered, is torn and waving in the air like a useless flag. I am no longer a horcrux. I killed the soul that I should've spent my life protecting.

I had failed.

…

The red-haired girl visits me quite often; I'm told she visits once a week, though I haven't cared enough to keep track of time. I don't know her name. I don't feel anything but apathy every time she looks at me with those brown eyes full of such shallow anguish.

She has never felt _pain_ before, and the fact that she could look at me and feel as if she was _suffering_ a **_terrible_** fate disgusted me to my shriveled up core.

She was revolting, and unpleasant. I hated her visits as much as I could in the almost catatonic state I had been forced into.

Despite this, the worst thing about her visits was that she insisted on _talking_ to me.

One on one.

_Alone_.

She once described our meetings as 'intimate', and she told me every visit that she would wait for me to 'fix' myself.

"You're not eating Harry, you need to eat."

She never stopped talking. I wonder if she would stop if she was smart enough to know that I was never going to **respond**…

"Why won't you talk to me Harry? You love me; why do you do this to me?"

My hatred for her grew with every word she sprouted from that disgusting mouth.

"They have told me over and over why you are like… _this_, but it really _is_ a good thing that he's gone Harry."

It grew and grew until I felt my stability twisting and bending spastically under the mindless insanity that wanted to consume me, and then _destroy_ _her_.

"It's alright Harry; I know how… _seductive_ and… **_manipulative_** V-Voldemort's soul can be."

My limp body tensed, my fingers clinched, and emotion burned through my eyes for the first time since I had woken up _alive_.

The red-head looked shocked, then hopeful, and then thrilled. She reached out and took my hand in her own, pressing my clinched fist to her cheek as she smiled at me in reassurance.

My skin burned.

My hand started to shake.

"Yes Harry, you're not alone! Remember back when I was possessed by the diary? I felt his soul in me too, but it's okay Harry! You're better off without it, trust me. His soul was a parasite; an evil that I am so glad is gone now!"

She smiled that relieved smile at me, caressing my wrist with fingers of fire.

"We can be 'whole' together Harry,"

**_So_** she **knew** what it felt like to have her soul **ripped** in two? She had **felt** the **_pain_** of her own horcrux being **_stolen_** from where it should have been nestled, safe, forever? She had **felt** the **_emptiness_** of only having half a soul when the rest of it was **gone**, **_forever_**? She **knew** what it was like to feel that **relentless** **_unraveling_** pain in every **_cell_** of her body?

"_You know **nothing**_..." I forced out of frozen lips.

My whole body had been numb for so long with only the pain as company… it felt so strange to feel these emotions… they felt so new in my body. I felt empowered by them, and I used my new-found strength to rip my hand from her.

It had been so long since someone had touched me; I had almost forgotten how much it scorched my skin.

Something cruel and wicked settled in my stomach as I stared at the red-head in front of me. She looked at me in hurt and confusion, reaching out for me once more, before stopping when I recoiled.

How dare she touch me and act as if she knew my pain.

Oh, I felt dizzy with these emotions. They possessed me in a way he once did so long ago, overpowering me until all I knew was madness.

Tilting my head slightly, I felt my lips crack as they split my gaunt face into a demonic smile.

"You want to be 'whole' with me?"

"Of course I do Harry!" The silly girl had the gall to look determined as she crossed her arms indignantly, though she beamed at me in pride; practically sparking in bliss as she looked at me.

My chuckle sounded more like the nails on a chalkboard until it bloomed into a laugh so reminiscent of him it made my constant ache worse.

Stopping abruptly, I was on my feet before she could blink, clinging to the wall to support my thin limbs. She rushed forward to help me, but I grabbed her arms with bruising fingers as my eyes bore into her, reflecting all the madness and agony I felt deep inside my core.

I heard her swallow loudly and watched her open her mouth to call for help, but all that came out was a surprised squeak.

I never initiated contact. I hated contact. Everyone burned me except for him, but his soothing balm was long gone.

Maybe we were both destined from birth to become insane with emptiness…

I wasn't really doing anything wrong… this was just part of my nature…

My soul was torn and dirty inside me; twisted into desperation by the constant loneliness and pain I felt. It was almost like I wasn't in control of my actions; my soul cried out for justice and for some form of relief from this never ending nightmare.

And seeing her standing there all doe eyed and _whole_, made me want to _rip_ her to **_shreds_**.

Why couldn't I be whole? Wasn't I just as deserving, if not more? What gave her the right to be complete? I spent my entire life being buttered up to be a sacrificial lamb; I tore out a piece of my own soul god damn it! All for people like _her_.

They didn't deserve to live.

They didn't deserve to be whole.

I felt my soul scream in bitter agreement.

She didn't deserve to be full, she didn't deserve her magic, and she didn't deserve her very own _soul_.

Inspiration made me open my mouth and force her own to open an inch from mine with unrelenting fingers.

Instinct commanded my magic from my eager core into my breath.

And resentment allowed me to feel pleasure as I watched her skin grow grey as a golden light left her mouth and traveled into mine.

I breathed in greedily as my core drank in her soul with impatience, absently tossing away her body. Her soul felt blindingly bright and so… _superficial_. I grimaced at its disgusting 'taste'.

But as it, the madness that had overtaken me loosened its overwhelming grip. It was not gone by any means, but it seemed to be pacified for the moment. Her disgusting soul would never fill me the way I craved, and I KNEW that. Her soul was pathetic; not even her ENTIRE soul could compare to the small sliver I had once housed.

My ache pulsed almost sadistically, reminding me of how whole I had once been; it was a sick and maybe masochistic comfort, but it was at least something to hold on to.

Maybe this was why dementors were so eager to devour souls. Maybe they were cursed to forever be empty… just like me.

Everyone walked around so ignorantly, no one appreciated the fact that they were born whole.

They deserved to be like this insignificant red-head. They deserved to have their souls sucked out.

And it was not just her soul I had taken.

I felt magic dance under my skin with readiness to be used, and I watched curiously as my skin took on a rather interesting glow.

I smiled a small, true smile as I slid back down to the floor, curling contently in my corner.

I stared at the ceiling with satisfaction; I even began to hum slightly as I slumped against the wall.

The nurses came in a few minutes later, some of them burst into screaming as they rushed to the red-head's side.

"She's still breathing!"

Within a few minutes they had her wheeled away on a cot, her eyes staring up and up and _up_; without any reaction to her surroundings.

"What did you do to her!" A nurse demanded, glaring down at me while she hid her shaking hands behind her back.

She did not try and touch me.

I peered up at her with innocence, for I _was_ innocent; it wasn't as if I had done anything wrong.

But I smiled at her anyway, trying to show her how blameless I was.

She flinched.

Sighing, I went back to staring at the ceiling, smiling at it because it was as uninterested in that girl as I was.

"I just showed her what it is like to be empty."

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and this is simply how I thought Harry Potter should have ended._

_I know I KNOW that I said that this was going to be a one-shot, but this story seriously just demanded to be written! _

_And it was all thanks to **PoppiiD**, who put the idea of continuing into my head- thank you **Poppii**! :)_

_As for Ginny's involvment, I want to give a shout out to **autumngold**, because the comment in their review inspired that particular scene! :)_

_And let's not forget **ShiRaToRiMaRu** and **akinto** and **Gemini Peverell **and **noipasithea **and of course **someonewitheyes.**_

_Thank you to everyone that reviewed, it meant a lot to me! _

_I hope you guys enjoyed the continuation, and I hope you are not too disappointed in it. I'm a little nervous about this chapter, because I liked the ending of the actual one-shot, and I'm hoping that this chapter doesn't feel like a run-on from it. If no one particularly likes this chapter I'll take it down, but I wanted to post it and see your opinions first. _

_Please let me know what you think! I crave opinions! And tell me if you have any questions, or if something wasn't clear! Thanks again! :) _

_:)_


	3. The Servant of Lord Voldemort

**The Servent of Lord Voldemort**

It felt so good, this power. I had never truly felt magic until it was dancing happily along my skin, eager for me to use it.

I could almost hear it speaking to me, its seductive words dripping with temptation, dripping with assurances of endless happiness and joy.

Of course the only thing I really wanted from the magic it could not grant me.

It could not bring back the dead.

Wasn't that the fundamental law of magic though? It can take life and prolong it, but never give it back.

In a way, I hated my magic.

I hated it as it pulsed elatedly in my veins, false promises streaming from its mute mouth. Wasn't magic a coveted thing? Didn't every person alive desire to have it flowing so freely like it was now? Wasn't it a priceless gift?

Then why was it, that when **I** had it, it was next to _useless_?

As for the girl's soul… it wasn't bonding with me. My soul rejected it, refused to entwine with it. In fact, the longer I held her inside me, the more I itched to banish her from my body. Her soul was so… _indecent_. It made my skin crawl uncomfortably; it made me want to _rip_ into my skin and **_force_** her soul out of me.

I felt so _dirty_.

…

Isn't it amazing how quickly a gift becomes a burden? A useless gift at that.

I shoved her soul into a pocket inside of me, compacted her into a tiny space as far away from my soul as I could.

I shuddered, curling into myself as I forced away the urge to claw my clammy skin.

They were watching me.

How long had they been watching me? How long had they been in the room?

"Harry Potter-"

There were three of them. One was kinda pale and kept sweating a lot.

"-what did you do to Ginevra Weasley?"

The other two were pretty big from my small little corner. One had pretty bronze skin, and the other had red hair… the red-head looked vaguely familiar…

… I wonder if he knew the red-head whose soul I ate.

"AGAIN, what did you do to Ginny Weasley?"

Who was this person they were asking me about?

"What did you do to my _sister_ **god dammit**!"

The red-head's face was turning red too. I frowned slightly as I tightened my hold on my curled up knees.

He was just as annoying as the last red-head.

"Mr. Weasley, calm down! This is why I disagreed with bringing him Shacklebolt! He's too personally involved-"

"He had a right to see the man who had done this to his sister!"

I am an empty horcruex.

**_"What did you do!?"_**

I ate someone's soul.

"Get him out of here!"

And I was never going to be full again.

"We trusted you, how could you do this to her!"

The pair of men lost their hold on the red-headed man. He had not stopped shouting at me since he had opened his mouth. I wonder what had made him so angry…

"You are going to tell me what you did to her and exactly how to fix it you **bastard**!"

He ran and grabbed me by my throat, yanking me up from my passive position against the wall. I gasped, though not for air.

His grip was unrelenting on my skin, fire burning inside me as I felt the pain of his touch.

"_Don't touch me_! **_Stop touching me_**! **_Let me GO_**!" I screamed, jerking and twisting as I tried desperately to remove his fingers from my screaming skin.

He smiled sadistically down at me and tightened his grip, "Not until you-"

He began to cough.

Coughing and coughing, soon he couldn't even stand; releasing his hold on me while collapsing in on himself.

"Ron!"

I stood rigid against the wall; staring down at the man kneeling in front of me as he doubled over, blood beginning to pour from his lips in a _fascinating_ fountain of **_red_**.

"RON!"

It reminded me of **his** eyes, that **_red_**.

"NURSE!"

The bronze skinned man began pounding on the door, attracting the nurses' attention. They came as a team and began to quickly unlock the enchantments keeping me in the room, running to the red-haired man's side while flinching away at my stare.

"Breathe, keep breathing Mr. Weasley; we need a Healer in here immediately!"

Keep breathing.

"His pulse is erratic, we need to stabilize him!"

I was to keep breathing.

"SOMEBODY **GET** A **HEALER**!"

It was fascinating really, feeling this much magic coursing from my body. I could see its translucent tendrils floating from me and into the red-haired man's chest; squeezing his heart and lungs.

He shouldn't have touched me.

"What happened in here!"

Did I not tell them not to touch me?

"I don't know, he just collapsed!"

Tilting my head curiously, I felt the madness begin to pulse fervently under my skin as my lips split my face into a demonic mask of heartless pleasure.

No one noticed except for the bronze skinned man, whose eyes became angry and wrathful in response.

"What have you done!" He marched over to me with his wand drawn threateningly, his face twisted into a snarl.

I could see his soul.

"You little _freak_, what the fuck have you **_become_**?!"

A faint purple glow came from his chest, bright and untainted and **_whole_**.

His wand jammed into my throat and cut off my breath.

He was breathing hard through his mouth, staring down at me in disgust while invading my personal space- although he was not touching me directly...

I wonder what his soul would taste like…

"**Poena Exuro." **

I screamed.

It felt like hundreds of hands were on me, fingers of fire teasing every inch of my skin in ruthless delight.

He smiled grimly at me.

I felt my magic retreat back into me to protect me from the pain, causing the red-headed man to let out a gasp for air.

"The blockage is gone, hurry we need to repair the damage!"

How dare he…

How **_dare_** he!

The bronze man began to retreat from me, triumph on his face as he turned to look at the fallen red-head.

I grabbed his face with merciless fingers, snapping his head back to face me. He looked down at me in surprise and slight fear when he felt the strength in my bony fingers.

I was skeletal from only being fed nutrient potions during my stay in this room. I refused to eat, and as a result, my limbs could barely support me.

I shouldn't have been able to force his head down to my level; I shouldn't have been able to pry his mouth open.

But I shouldn't have been able to do a lot of things.

My magic flew instantly into my mouth and began to extract his soul. This time a purple light left his mouth and traveled into mine, leaving him sagging and blank as I dropped him with a glare.

He tasted almost… _spicy_.

I rolled my tongue around my mouth as I swallowed, trying to identify what exactly he had tasted like. It was a hearty soul, angry yet calm as it stubbornly tried to refuse merging with the soul I had already eaten.

I heard a gasp.

I heard a scream.

I turned toward the frozen people inhabiting my cell, all of their wide horrified eyes skimming across my skin.

I smiled innocently as I stepped forward; ignoring the limp body of the bronze man I stepped on.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

They seemed to awaken at the sound of my voice, cowering and running for the open door.

"I didn't do anything wrong."

The door swung shut, a thin veil of translucent energy activating the enchantments set to keep me contained.

"I'm just doing what's in my nature."

The red-headed man my magic had attacked seemed to come alive, and reached out to grab my ankle. He dragged me down roughly, snapping the bones in my delicate leg, making me cry out in pain.

My skin was broken; my ankle was twisted to the side.

I couldn't move my leg.

He crawled over me, his eyes wild and glazed, panting from his blood covered lips.

He smiled like a demon over me, grabbing my fragile wrists and pinning them over my head.

I felt tears licking my eyes as I stared up at his face. With his face so close to my own, what was once a vague recollection became a startling memory.

I knew this man.

At least, once I had.

I couldn't remember his name, but I felt my frozen heart ache slightly as I looked up into that twisted face.

WHY was he hurting me so much? A tear escaped as the feeling of helplessness and fire crawled inside me.

WHY did my heart twist so painfully, as if he had betrayed me somehow?

I whimpered as the ache intensified, trying to wrench my hands away without the use on my magic.

My body was trembling, I wanted him to stop hurting me so badly… but my heart battled with my instincts.

We trust this man! We **KNOW** HIM! It seemed to scream, but then why was he **HURTING** me!

It hurt so bad…

The red-head only laughed at my struggle, spitting a mouthful of blood and saliva on my conflicted face.

The red-head's head exploded across the walls, splattering my face and my cloths with drops of flesh and blood.

"Why does everyone want to hurt me?"

My voice was small and hard to hear.

I didn't expect an answer.

I pushed the unmoving body off me with shaking hands, standing and swaying as I looked down at the man I was sure I once knew.

I narrowed my eyes down at him and spat on his corpse.

How DARE he treat me that way? I was sure I once trusted that man, if the echoes of what felt like betrayal were taken into account.

My heart shriveled and died in my chest, and I felt whatever innocence I had left break.

All that was left was the madness, and my love for my Master.

My Master who my soul screamed for.

He was the only one worth my love and my devotion. Trivial ties with pathetic humans like this red-head were idiotic. Why should I care what happens to anyone but my Master?

They would only hurt me.

The only one who wouldn't hurt me, my beloved Master, was dead and gone, and I was all that was left of him.

I glared down at the pitiful heaps of flesh cowering in MY corner.

They whimpered in fear, curling away from me.

I hated them. I hated **_everything_**.

I smiled down at them, unaware of the coldness that slowly seeped from my body and stained the air.

I was a horcrux, I was _meant_ to contain a HIS soul; _**Destined** _to protect my Master.

Interesting that as a result to being empty, I could take and contain other souls as well. But, I wasn't created for their souls. No matter how many souls I ate and absorbed, they would never fill the gap inside me.

But at least I could still keep _them_ from feeling whole.

And for now, that would be enough.

* * *

_Sorry if this chapter is kinda confusing, because I wrote like, three seperate parts over the course of however long it's been since I updated and then combined them._

_This was a tough chapter, man, I feel like it's been FOREVER since I entered this world, and yet I still love it._

_I hope you guys liked it! PLEASE let me know what you think, because I'm even MORE unsure of this chapter vs. the last one._

_I feel like I just joined Harry on his emotional roller coster, because now my head hurts and I hate this uncertainty I hold updating my story._

_But, I think you guys have waited long enough. _

_I love you guys! _

_See ya next chapter!_

_Oh, and I'm sorry__ **autumngold, **but the stinky souls are to remain inside him for just a LITTLE while longer *smirk_


	4. Fight and Flight

**Fight and Flight **

It was an interesting feeling, being so full and yet empty at the same time... maybe this was a different kind of whole.

Most of the souls I consumed were in fact quite filling, and if I had been anyone else, I'm sure I would have felt satisfied and maybe even happy. But I wasn't just an ordinary horcruex. I was not meant to contain such meager and average souls; I was meant to contain HIS soul.

HIS soul that my body could still remember, that my ripped soul could remember.

But despite my comforting ache, I had to admit it was a little nice to not feel so lonely, though I knew I would never come to like the feeling of that red-headed girl's soul; it was just too revolting.

Smiling hurt my cheeks, but I felt contentment fill me as I walked out the door of my cell, leaving behind their empty bodies without a shred of remorse.

But before I shut that door, before I sealed away their blank faces, I couldn't help but glance in one last time.

I looked at every face with apathy, until I came across the only man whose soul I hadn't eaten.

His head was still dripping with blood, his entire face gone and falling from the walls. I grimaced, and my hand cradled my thin chest. My heart hurt, and while the ache wasn't big, it was enough for me to _feel_ something for someone other than HIM.

I hope to hell this is the last time it happens.

I turned and walked away as my magic sealed away their corpses, listening with satisfaction as the locks and alarms hummed to life.

Each step was a struggle, my limbs jerked and popped with every movement, until I couldn't even feel the pain of walking on my ruined leg.

I was numb.

I was deaf to the screams and blind to the colors of light being aimed in my direction.

No light touched me as I continued on my journey, oblivious to everything but the twin glass doors that lead to the outside world.

What was waiting for me on the other side?

I don't know, but the thought of staying in that white room held less appeal.

They would never let me die.

In that white room I was sentenced to **life** with their eyes eternally judging me.

At least outside I had a chance to die.

So it was time to leave this behind me, and step forward.

The Healers soon realized that my magic had formed a barrier around me, their spells bounced off my shield and returned back to their creators in glee .

The screams were beginning to annoy me.

I tried to ignore them; however, that was when I saw a man in purple robes. He was slack jawed, but his eyes were filled with silent rage.

How many red-heads were there in the world? This was getting ridiculous. Though, his hair was more on the grey side then red…

His wand was up and pointing at me, his mouth moving to form two words I hadn't heard in such a long time.

"Avada Kadavra."

I blinked, but forced my shield to lower with a huge smile. Maybe these red-heads weren't so bad after all! He was going to kill me!

I laughed in glee, reaching out for that beautiful, _perfect_ green light.

I didn't notice the golden breath leaving my mouth.

A glinting cloud soon formed, swirling around in front of me, stealing my gaze from that lovely green to that alarming gold. A figure formed, a girl with flowing golden hair and determined eyes, her arms held out wide as she formed a shield in front of me.

Her face was hard and unforgiving as she stared into the grayed red-head's eyes, not moving a muscle even as the killing curse shot through her chest, forcing her body to arch backward.

The man who hurled the curse stared at her with horrified recognition, crumbling into himself as the girl was thrown back, her mouth open in silent scream as sparking tears fell down her cheeks.

"_Ginny_…"

I stared, uncomprehending, as the girl flew back into me, her shimmering body scattering out into the air as if she were merely made of golden dust.

What-?

"**GINNY**!"

What-?

What the **FUCK**!

A snarl formed across my lips as I screamed a mindless scream. I sounded like a feral animal, and I no longer felt like a human.

I was _SO_ **CLOSE**!

My magic howled demonically as it flew around me, ripping apart everything it touched, sending scattered body parts flying through the air as well as destroyed pieces of furniture and glass.

I ran through that hallway on a crooked leg, random things hitting my body and tearing it open. Glass sliced through my cheek and forehead, a leg from a chair impaled my side, and a piece of metal flew clean through my shoulder and landed somewhere behind me.

I ran from this hell on earth, where death was so close and yet so _far_, tears of frustration falling from my cheeks.

Why couldn't I just die?

_Why!_

What had I done _wrong_?

I'm sorry I was born! I'm sorry I breathed your air God! I'm sorry I dared to live, so _please_, **_kill_** me! What more do you want from me! What else do I have to give you! I've given you my LIFE, so please take it back! I've given you my SOUL, so please, take me with it!

Why do you HATE ME SO MUCH GOD!

Why are you doing this to me!

WHY DID YOU ALLOW ME TO BE BORN!

_Why can't you allow me to die?_

I fell into the glass doors that separated me from the outside world, my red-coated fingers slipping as they grasped the glass desperately.

_Why am I still here?_

My legs shook so badly, they couldn't hold me up, and as soon as those doors slid open, I fell into the sun kissed street and rolled down the road to land at someone's feet.

I looked up into startled grey eyes, and felt relief swell in my chest as the sun smiled down at me.

"May I die now God?"

Outside hell, I _finally_ stopped breathing.

* * *

_Okay, this chapter is weird, and I know it. _

_I'm sure some of you guys are confused, so I'll try to explain the whole "Ginny" thing. The grey-red haired man I'm sure you guys guessed was Arthur Weasley, and the golden girl was Ginny. I tried to portray her as a Soul, and because the killing curse hit her, it allowed her soul to move on to heaven, while at the same time defending Harry from it's effects. _

_The way I see it, the souls Harry eats become submissive and dorment, but not unaware. So, when Ginny saw Harry in danger, she forced herself out of Harry to become a tangible shield. Does that make sense? Because I feel that Ginny is just GINNY enough to still 'love' Harry even after he ate her (in her mind I'm sure she sees it as some kind of romantic thing he did to protect her *gag*)._

_If your still confused, or if you have any other questions about this story, please feel free to PM me. _

_Oh, and his is NOT the end my readers! We're only half-way there! _

_:)_

_I have a special shout out to SIN! Because you're amazing, and I have dedicated this chapter to your amazingness! Granted, I know this chapter is depressing as hell, and I know a lot of people are going to hate it; but, it was because of you that I finally beat my writer's block into submission, it was because I couldn't bare to keep you waiting any longer that I updated, and forced this chapter out of my brain!_

_On another note, next chapter, we FINALLY get a glimpse at how this story is going to end, and how Harry will finally get his Happily ever after!_

_I'll see you guys next chapter, and Don't forget to reveiw :)_

_NYTE_


	5. The Dark Mark

**The Dark Mark**

_Where_… _Where am I?_

_Is this… heaven?_

_…_

_No._

_This is Hell._

I opened my eyes to find nothing but blue skies.

No clouds met my gaze, and I suddenly realized that I could not remember the last time I had seen the sky, especially a blue one.

… I hate the sky.

"Are you alright Potter? Shit, what happened to you? Was there an attack on St. Mungos? I called the Aurors, they should be here soon-_fuck_, why is there so much **_blood_**-"

I looked away from the mind numbing blue, to find familiar grey eyes staring down at me. Who…

Slowly, but steadily, I came back to my senses. I finally noticed the twin arms surrounding me, holding me in a half-sitting position against someone's chest. The rest of me was sprawled uncomfortably across the dirty sidewalk.

"Y-you just fell through the doors, and rolled to my feet, what the bloody hell- oh Merlin, I think I am going to throw up."

I followed my holder's eyes, ignoring the flames that caressed me because of the contact with his skin. I tilted my head curiously when I noticed the leg of an unlucky chair protruding quite awkwardly from my side, the skin around it turned black and blue from the short roll I had had down the street.

Curiously, I reached out to take hold of the foreign limb, moving it left and right, and then in a circle. I felt nothing, and smiled with cracked lips; it looked like I was using the leg as a spoon while mixing cake batter.

My holder gagged into a hand that he lifted from my waist.

I froze.

My sudden glee left just as quickly as it came, replaced with confused fear.

_Why was I **still** **breathing**?_

I had stopped hadn't I? I had politely asked God to let me die, and here I was, in the Devil's arms with his flames eating me up from the inside out.

I was beginning to wonder if it was even **_possible_** for me to die.

"How-" I coughed loudly, my hand leaving my new limb in favor of covering my mouth. Blood spilled onto my shaking hand.

My holder shushed me gently, holding me tighter as he swallowed his obvious revulsion, "I had to perform a spell to keep you breathing Potter; it will force your body to continue breathing even when you are unaware, however, the drawback is you cannot speak… wait, now that I think about it, that's not a drawback when concerning you! You should stay quiet like this more often Potter, your almost bearable this way."

Well… that explained why it felt like acid was swimming through my veins- it was the same spell those twice damned nurses in that thrice damned room used when I stopped breathing.

I'm going to **murder** you grey eyes.

"You know, now that I think about it… I haven't seen you in a while Potter. Mind you, I've been under House Arrest since the end of the War; but when it got lifted, I neither heard nor saw a hide or tail of you."

…

"Seriously Potter, you look like one of the Dark Lord's prisoners, what the fuck happened to you?"

…

Do I know you grey eyes?

You seem to know _me_.

Why does your magic feel so familiar?

No- _his_ magic wasn't familiar; it swam around me and tasted disgustingly stale. But something felt famil-

Oh dear God.

**_Master?_**

I felt hope spring like a doomed flower in my chest, blooming into something condemned even as I looked around desperately.

I saw no swish of black robes (though I saw several swishes of purple as the Aurors FINALLY responded), but even as I looked through the suddenly crowded street, I could still FEEL him.

**_Master? Where are you Master? _**

_Is there a God after all! Did He hear me! OH, God, THANK YOU! **Master**- you gave me back my **Mas**-_

There is no God.

There is no God, and if there is, now I know for sure that he hates me.

I saw what felt so much like my Master, what killed my budded flower, and made my holder scream a scream worthy of the victims in Hell.

_He **deserved** **Hell**, because_**I**_was_ **IN HELL**.

I should have known.

I should have fucking known, and now I could only feel like an idiot as I stared down at silver eye's arm.

The Dark Mark.

In front of numerous eyes, magical and otherwise, I twisted in my holder's arms and tackled him to the ground.

I held him down brutally as I slowly opened my mouth, enjoying the feeling of his soul being extracted from his screaming lips.

His screams slowly lowered to whimpers, and then the blond-haired grey-eyed man was finally quiet.

His soul was an amber color that almost reminded me of an animal, and it was… _bitter_. I coughed him down, swallowing several times, and flicking my tongue in and out as I gagged.

He tasted worse than black coffee.

The shouts were almost expected, as was the sight of the multiple curses headed my way.

I looked around frantically, feeling the weight of my lungs settle in my chest as I regained the choice to stop breathing.

Red, yellow, dark green and black hit my shield with a barely heard "thwack", and rebounded viciously. I gulped, my eyes widening as their words floated into my ears.

"He killed Malfoy!"

"Sir, the Hospital looks like it was hit with a bomb!"

"Take him in for questioning!"

"Don't shoot to kill, shoot to capture!"

Out of all the scattered conversations and shouted orders, that one word caught my attention like no other.

**_Capture_.**

They weren't trying to kill my, they were trying to CAPTURE me! They were going to shut me away again, probably in Askaban! The Dementors… they would steal Him! All I had left was my memories of my Master, no, they couldn't take that away from me, no, NO!

I did the only thing I could do.

I ran.

* * *

_Consider this chapter a bonus chapter, or a filler. I honestly didn't expect to update this quickly, and after finishing writing a moment ago, I realized how needed and how awesome I thought this chapter was._

_I hope you liked it, and I'm also SORRY to any and all Draco fans, because I love him as well!_

_Harry just hates everyone, and as a result, will kill any and all who are in his way. _

_I promised a glimpse at the ending in this chapter, but alas, unless your me and actually KNOW the plot, I don't know if it's spotible because I didn't make it obvious *Honestly, I don't even know if it's there 0.0_

_Shout out to **'Theblackbook'** who was especially flattering. Thanks so much, I'm glad you like how my story's going!_

_I love you guys, and __I hope two updates get's me some reveiws now, ya hear? Share the love guys! I'm lovable! :)_

**_Next up, more angst, and FINALLY some clues as to what Harry is going to do!_**

_See ya next Chapter!_

_NYTE_


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